Bless You Boys

It seemed that a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between Major League Baseball’s (MLB) players and owners was getting close again on Wednesday afternoon. The once huge gaps between the two sides had narrowed to just $2 million on the lowest tier of the competitive balance tax (CBT), and just $10 million on the minimum

Tuesday evening’s CBA proposal from the owners to the players left many feeling like they were negotiating in good faith for the first time in this cycle’s renegotiation process. A notable element of that proposal was a the implementation of an international draft, the specifics of which were made available to the public. Reporting indicates

The Detroit Tigers rather long history of failure in developing hitters, as well as their lack of success with international free agents, has been discussed often here at Bless You Boys over the last half decade or more. One must look all the way back to 2014, when Eugenio Suarez provided a solid rookie campaign

The Major League Baseball Players’ Association (MLBPA) made some new proposals to owners as the two sides met in New York on Sunday, in an effort to break the stalemate in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Among the new proposals that the players made are: Allowing MLB to make three specific rule

Over the last few years, the Detroit Tigers have had a strong penchant for SEC right-handers in the draft. Of course, the SEC produces an awful lot of good pitchers, so they’re not hardly alone in this. Two of the Tigers’ last five first round picks have fit the description. In 2017 they selected Alex

I love baseball. Since I was a little kid, I have always loved baseball. I loved playing baseball since Little League, if not sooner. I loved going to the games, the sight of the green, green grass, the crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, and the smell of hot dogs. I love

The primary cause of the stalemate between major league baseball players and owners is MLB’s failure to agree to a reasonable increase in the Competitive Balance Tax (CBT) threshold. The owners “final and best” offer included a paltry hike of less than five percent, from $210 to $220 million in 2022, followed by no increase

After major league baseball players and owners bargained late into the night on the date of MLB’s self imposed deadline, February 28, reports to the media from the owners suggested that a deal might be close. Sounds coming from the players’ quarters were not so optimistic, as the two sides remained far apart on a

Monday’s bargaining meetings between Major League Baseball and the players’ union in Jupiter, Florida, started at noon and lasted deep into the early morning hours. The league has insisted that February 28th was the date that a deal would have to be done to avoid losing regular season games for weeks now, but showed zero

While first baseman and power hitter extraordinaire, Spencer Torkelson, rightly drew most of the ink in the Detroit Tigers’ 2020 draft class, he wasn’t the only Arizona State product the organization selected. Torkelson’s teammate, infielder Gage Workman, was the club’s fourth round pick. In his first year of pro ball, Workman showed the ability to

Over the last few years the Detroit Tigers farm system was headlined by a three-headed pitching dragon in Casey Mize, Matt Manning, and Tarik Skubal. All three have graduated prospect status, leaving the team with more of a two-headed position player monster of Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene. That begs the question, after losing three

Major league baseball players and owners met for the fifth straight day on Saturday, with the players making significant concessions on key issues in an effort to reach an agreement in advance of the owners’ imposed deadline of February 28 to start the 2022 season on time. MLB owners rejected the players’ proposal, choosing instead

When the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between Major League Baseball and its’ players ended on December 1, 2021, MLB immediately imposed a lockout of the players, even though no games were scheduled for another four months. They didn’t have to lock the players out. That was a choice, a tactic intended to put pressure on

The 2022 college baseball season is now underway, which is an exciting time for prospectors everywhere. It means that draft boards will start to change, players will breakout and stocks will fall. Since the draft boards are not stable whatsoever, now is a good of time as any to start guessing at who the Detroit

One of our favorite points in the preseason calendar is the release of a new FanGraphs top 100 prospect list. There aren’t any big surprises in this year’s edition from a Detroit Tigers’ perspective, but it’s always instructive to read their commentary. In the larger scheme of things it’s also the perfect entrance point into

The truncated MLB amateur draft in 2020 appears to have been a good one for the Detroit Tigers, despite the unfortunate circumstances. They were handed a near ready-made middle-of-the-order slugger with the first overall selection in Spencer Torkelson, and followed that up with a good pick at the top of the second round, taking Ohio

Major League Baseball’s owners and players met over a five hour period on Monday with the owners making two small proposals that hint at room for further movement. MLB increased it’s offer for a pre-arbitration bonus pool from $15 million to $20 million and bumped the number of teams participating in the draft lottery from

The second round of the MLB amateur draft had been a bit of a black hole for the Detroit Tigers until they selected Dillon Dingler with the first pick of the second round in 2020. Looking to go back-to-back, the club selected prep shortstop Izaac Pacheco with the third pick of the second round in

In the 2021 amateur draft, the Detroit Tigers made a decided push to bolster their pitching pipeline. Five of their first six selections were starting pitchers, power arms all, with Jackson Jobe and Ty Madden leading the way. The system had gotten a little thin in pitching with the graduation of Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal,

The great frustration of the Detroit Tigers’ farm system over the last decade, has been a dire lack of good hitters. Top prospects Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson have finally changed the equation, but a system that can’t produce major league contributors without top draft picks is going to have a hard time sustaining a